Kyle's Reviews > House of M

This is definitely one of my favourite collections from the Marvel Universe. It continues with the events which were started in the "Disassembled" stories, that is to stay, House of M deals mainly with the fallout of Scarlett Witch's emotional/mental breakdown that ended with the deaths of several Avengers.

Not sure how to imprison a reality-bending, unpredictable mutant, the X-men and Avengers must come together to make a final decision on how to handle Scarlet Witch. Fearing that they will opt to kill her, Wanda, her brother and Magneto, her father, take matters into their own hands, and in a flash, alter the universe in a drastic and, seemingly, irreversible way.

A lot of this collection is comprised of superheroes sitting around and talking about the stresses and consequences of their job (which is one of my biggest comic-nerd turn-ons). House of M also captures a lot of the mystery and intrigue of an Elseworld comic, where everything is recognizable and familiar, yet upside down and twisted (another big turn-on for this nerd). But, what makes House of M so brilliant is that the stakes are set so high for every character involved.... so even when people are sitting around unsure of what to do, the tension is thick, and you can feel the pressure that the characters are feeling.

Of course, when the story ends with an epic battle involving practically every major Marvel Superhero, it is an even greater payoff and feels even more climactic because of all the inaction that comes before it. (That's not true. There is plenty of action throughout this whole story.... But the most important material is when the heroes converse with each other).

Bendis is at his best in this collection with some truly beautiful and subtle emotional moments written for some of Marvels most iconic characters.... I mean, I don't think I've ever liked Wolverine as much as I do in this series, or Spiderman. And the way that Scarlet Witch is written makes her one of the most complicated and compelling villains in the MU. Oliver Coipel shows off his talents with some really slick artwork, beautifully coloured, dramatically angled and very specific, emotive facial expressions. As a team, Bendis and Coipel can take a one word sentence and give it layer upon layer upon layer of meaning.

It's brilliant stuff. A comic that pushes boundaries and carries itself with gravitas. And it has an amazing cliff-hanger.

5/5